Articulated car joint



Fan. 23 192m 1,574,453 J. M. SUAREZ- ARTICULATED CAR JOINT Filed Dec. 4, 1925 JOSEPH YE. sesame, 9E BAL'EEMQRE, MARYLAND, AEiSIGrNOE- 0E GHE-'l-ENTH 5N3 BALTIMORE, ,MARYLAND.

mercenaries can some;

.tl sfication filed December a, 1925. Seriei No. 73,228.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Josnrn: M. SUAREZ, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Articulated Car Joints, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to articulated railway cars, and particularly to an improved articulated car-joint.

Some of the objects of this invention are as follows:

To provide an improved car-joint which embodies the maximum. of safety, flexibility, durability, adjustability, and convenience n assembling, with a comparatively slight cost of manufacturing and maintaining; also to provide a car-joint of this character that permits of a considerable vertical movement of the car-sections with respect to one another and with respect to their common supporting truck on which the intermediate joint-member is secured; also to provide a car-joint of this character which has an exceedingly convenient and efiective 1ubricatiug means.

Other objects and pointed outor implied in the following details oi description, in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

' Fig. l is a top plan View of my improved car-joint. y

F 1g. 2 is a side elevation, the ad oining parts of the car-sections and common truck: being shown in vertical section.

Fig. 3is avwtical sectional'view taken in the plane andwiewed in the direction indicated by the line 3--3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. is a'seotional view in the same plane as Fig. 3, but viewed in the direction indicated by the line it-4c of Fig. 2.

Referring to these drawings in detail, in which similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views, and in which a TJJefiJli truck-bolster is shown at 'i, and in which two channel beams or car-section-ends are shown at C, it is seen that the intermediate joint-member 'is formed of two separable but securely united socket-elements, viz, an upper socket-element 1 and lower socketelement 1,, and that each oi these elements has agproxiimportant features are.

znately hemispherical cavities or sockets therein, as indicated at 3 and 4:, respectively.

lliey are not entirely hemispherical, how eve because the metal (iron or steel) is omitted at one side of the wall of each cavity, as seen at 5 and 6, respectively. One cavity 3 is complemental to a subjacent "cavityi l, and the other cavity 3, is compleinental to the other cavity 4%; and these pairs of complemental cavities combine to hi'orin approximately spherical sockets each havingan outlet formed by the complemem tal recesses 5 and 6. Each outlet 5-6 is oblong in lJhBtllOIlZQllt-fil direction, as shown in Figures 1 and 3, that is, in the direction laterally of the path of traveling movement of the can The members 3 and a are each provided with a erturcd horizontal securing flanges T an 8, respectively, through which are extended any appropriate and proper number of securing members 9 which ma be either bolts or rivets. The lower an ments or bodies hand 4. are

greierahly plane and horizontal and separate by one or more upper surfaces or" the respective elegaskets 10 which are intended to he removed,

one at a time, for compensating. for Wear of their walls and of the balls 11 that are seated therein. The upper member 1 is formed with oil-ducts 12 which extend to the inner sides of the cavities 3 from any suitable lubricating device indicated at 1 3. The member, 2 includes a channel plate it having, parallel flanges 15 that extend down against the opposite edges of the truck bolster T and cooperate with "fasteners 16, which, may be either belts or rivets, "torso curely and safely uniting the member 2 with the truck-bolster." It will be seen that this downwardly opening channel of the part lat is as readily applicable to and sec-arable on a truck-bolster of channel-beam contruction or I-beam construction as it is t the. T-beam construction, The channel-plate 1 is preferably lon er than the distance between tl1e"latera ly facing edges of the flanges 7 and 8, so it has a relatively large area of bearing surface Where it is seated 6n, the ti'uckdiolster.

Each ball 11 is part of a connecting mom her having a neck 17 which is of less extent in its vertical cross section than the vertical distance across the outlet 56, and is of much less extent in its horizontal direction than is the horizontal distance across the said outlet; so, as the ball llof each connecting member has rotary movement in the cooperating socket, ample clearance is provided to permit the neck 17 to swing in every direction, thereby compensating" for vertical and horizontal curvatures of the track on which the articulated car travels.

Each coupling member or connecting member also includes an elongated flanged plate 18 from which the neck 17 taperstowards and to the ball 11. lhe part 18, of each connecting member,'has its upright intermediate part apertured to receive securing means such as bolts or rivets 19 which also extend through the adjoining channel beam or car-frame-member C. Each securing plate 18 has a channel whose edges are formed by parallel flanges 20 and 21, the latter being ape tured to receive securing members 19 which also extend through the lower flange of the adjoining channel-beam or flanged Each connecting member also includes strengthening ribs or flanges 22 that extend from the neck 17 to the top and bottom of the respective flan es 20 and 21, and horizontal stiflening anges that extend from said neck to the ends of the securing plate 18. The bolt-holes or rivet-holes are through parts of the plate on. opposite sides of the stiflening ribs or flanges 22 and 23, so these connecting members are not only exceedingly strong, but comparatively light and inexpensive, also easy to secure in place, in view of the flanges 20 and 21 embracing the structural beams (l therebetween while marking these beams for their rivet-holes, or while boring such holes and using the plate 18 as a templet.

I do not intend to limit my patent proi tection to the exact construction and arrangement here SllOW1l,/ for the inventive ideas include numerous modifications within the scope of the subject matter claimed.

lVhat I claim as my invention is: l

1. An articulated. car-joint comprising two members each formed with a neck having a ball on one end and means on its other end to secure it to an end of a car-section in such relation that these two members -extend towards one another when secured on opposing ends of car-sections, and an inter mediate joint-member including two ballsockets each having an outlet in its upright side which is farthest from the other ball socket, said necks extending through said outlets while said balls are fitted in said ball-sockets and adapted to have limited rotary movements therein, said joint-member having means to secure it to a truck-bolster.

2 An articulated car-joint comprising two members each formed with a neck havstructural car-frame-member.

towards one another from the car-sections that they are secured to, and an intermediate joint-n'iember including two ballsockets having outlets in their upright sides farthest from one another, said necks extending through said outlets and having lateral play therein so the balls can have limited rotary movement in the respective sockets, said [intermediate joint-1nembei' having a downwardly opening channel to receive and embrace the top of a truckbolster, means being provided to combine with said channel for securing said jointmember on the truck-bolster.

3. In an articulated car-joint, the combination of a member having approximately hemispherical upwardly opening ball-seats and a downwardly opening channel, the latter adapted to receive and embrace a truckbolster and provided with means to secure it. to a truclcbolster, said channel extending laterally of a geometric line through. the centers of said ball-seats, and a member formed with downwardly opening ball-seats which are complemental to the first said ball-seats to form ball sockets, means being provided to secure these members to one another and to adjust the ball-seats with respect to one another, substantially as shown, for the purpose specified.

4. The structure defined by claim 3, the second said member including lubricationducts extending from its top to the inner sides-of the downward-1y opening ball-seats.

5. In an element ofan articulated caroint, a member comprising a flanged plate having apertures therethrough to receive fasteners for securing it to an upright face of a car-sections end, one flange of said member extending horizontally from the lower edge of said member and provided with openings to receive fasteners for securing it to a horizontal flange of the carsections end, said member also including a neck extending from the side opposite to said flange and tapering outwards, and said member also including a ball on the outer end of said neck.

6. In an element of an articulated carjoint, a joint-member including two ball-. sockets and being divisible in the horizontal plane through the centers of these ballsockcts and provided with superposed and suhjacent flanges at opposite sides of the ball-sockets, these flanges being apertured to receive means to secure them to one another,

each ball socket having an outlet that is relacar-sections, substantially as shown.

1,574,453 age 7. In an articulated car-joint, the 00mlatter, respective and! a, sup ombing membinatim with two'flan ed end beams eftWo bar on said truc -bolster an having two cur-sections, and a true -b0lster of two ball ball-smkets to receive the balls of the ball- 10 carrying members each incluciing an up carrying members and combine therewith Lu 5 right plate and a horizontal flange, the hit" formiwo ball-joints. v

ter extending under the respective lewer In'testimony whereoi I affix my signature.

flanges of said end beams and'secured to the JOSEPH M. fiUABEZ. 

